That's a beautiful Brie picture, Sarah! You've reminded me that I have a frozen wheel of this in my freezer that needs thawing and eating. I'm still trying to decide what to make for my next project. I'm thinking mozzarella.

Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 1:43 pmPosts: 2518Location: In some dumb hotel in an equally dumb town...or in San Diego

Ok, so I had 2 failures with cheeses today

First, I made the mozzarella but my brain died so I added 1/3c of water too much to the agar mixture so the cheese balls never quite solidified as much as I assume they should, also I dont think my apartment was warm enough for the culturing to happen as there was no real cheesy taste to the cheese balls. I will try this one again properly.

Any tips on what to do in a house that stays 70 degrees to help the cheese culture?

second I made the melt able muenster but realized I had the wrong kind of carrageenan, and when I tried it it just didnt taste very good at all. Was this because of the carrageenan or maybe because I used Nancys soy yogurt which seems like it might be too sweet?

Im sort of bummed but have 2 cups of cashews soaking so I will re try tomorrow.

I'm sure this has been asked somewhere in this thread, but I'm having a heck of a time finding it - has anyone used plain *sweetened* yogurt in their recipes? I'm assuming it won't work, but I can't find unsweetened and I don't think I have time to make yogurt AND age my cheeses to have them ready by Thanksgiving.

_________________"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:Of shoes, and ships, and sealing-wax,Of Capsicums & Things."

Adam, sometimes to help breads rise I will turn my oven on for one minute, turn it off, open the door and let most of the heat out, and then put it in there. I have to hide things from my cat anyway so I might as well do it in something warmer than the microwave. Of course, then you wouldn't be able to use your oven while it's culturing. But here it's cold enough where you can really tell that the temperature in your cabinets is lower than the rest of your house, so stashing it away in a cupboard might actually be counter productive unless it's summer.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

I can only find agar flakes in the stores and I am at the thickening stage of my cheese making. What do I do? Is agar powder just agar flakes pulverized? Or is there another measurement I could use of agar flakes instead of powder?

Also, anyone have a good source for agar powder? I just spent a truly obscene amount of money on like half a cup of agar flakes.

In her fresh mozzarella and cheesecake recipes in AVC she has a sub ratio of 1 tsp powder: 1 TBS flakes. I've seen this as the ratio for a lot of other recipes, too. But for cheese, you want to make sure Miyoko has blessed it.

The "oops I added too much salt" Camembert en croute was also a hit at our second thanksgiving celebration yesterday. My husband said the Brie was too mild for him, he couldn't really taste it, but he liked this version better. I haven't had any of the second batch yet because my tummy was funny yesterday, but the thanksgiving Brie pretty much tasted like cheesecake to me with all the toppings and puff pastry. It was really awesome.

I think I might try cheddar or cream cheese next. My kid feels strongly about tofutti cream cheese and we just found out also loves cashews, so that would probably be a hit.